KARACHI:
The Sindh Assembly passed a bill on Wednesday that allows dual nationals to contest the upcoming local government (LG) elections, according to local media sources.
This third amendment to the Sindh Local Government Act was moved by parliamentary affairs minister Dr Sikandar Mandhro.
“There was no bar on dual nationality in local government law in 2001 but it was restricted later,” pointed out LG minister Nasir Shah. “Now, the government has omitted the relevant clause by giving permission to dual nationals to contest the elections.”
The other three amendments to the act pertained to women and youth quota for elections in the union-council level and the use of secret ballots to elect the chairperson of the UC and town municipal administration, sources further revealed.
“There was a 22-per-cent quota for women for the UC and it has now been increased to 33 per cent,” said Shah. “In the previous law passed by the assembly a few months ago, only one seat was reserved for women. It has now been increased to two.”
